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17
ForEliteAtheletes to FunRunners
RACE: REVIEW
european championships
that bell, and do it the first time. I’d watched from
a distance on the previous day and it didn’t look
too bad – “I should be fine”, I thought. Things
were different when you reached the platform and
realised just how far you had to jump to reach the
bar. I was there for a few minutes – conscious of
the ticking clock, but nervous for the jump – what
seemed like a leap of faith that you would even
reach the bar. I think everyone else I was on the
platform with was having the same hesitation…
they’d approach the edge of the platform fine, but
then freeze. Time to get myself into gear, I’m not
going to lose my band through fear of jumping! To
refresh my head, I moved to a different platform,
made a short run up, and leaped. I grabbed the
bar, swung and kicked the bell with my foot. Thank
god for that. Elated, I started to enjoy the race.
Maybe daring to dream I could keep this wristband?
An ice dip and some running later and we were
faced with one of the distinctively Dutch ‘Survival
Running’ obstacles – monkey bars, to ropes, to
monkey bars. I managed to get across with relative
ease.
Next up a sandbag/wreckbag carry. Yay! Something
that requires no technical ability, my specialism!
Merrily on my way I went, until I was instructed to
put the bag down – it was time for that slide. In
hindsight it was a good thing that it caught me by
surprise – I had no time to over-think and chicken-
out. I made my way up the steps – I had no choice
– I still had my band, there was no way I was losing
it for just being a scaredy cat! The marshals were
fantastic, I sat down, they instructed me to lead
back, chin down, arms crossed, and gave me a
gentle push. It’s just what I needed and down I
went – instinctively putting my arms out to slow
me down – completely futile of course! After what
felt like a whole load of in-the-air time, I crashed
down and was flooded with adrenaline, but mainly
relief… I’d done it! I picked up the wreckbag again
and I was on top of the world!
Another ‘Survival Running’ obstacle was next.
Strength endurance was key here – as you were
holding your own weight for such a long time as you
traversed a beam, to a rope, to a cargo net, and
finished with an ‘arms only’ rope traverse. It took
me until my third go to complete it; again I dared to
dream that I could keep this wristband!
Onwards from then, we were released into the
Dutch countryside and the beautiful sandy
trails. The pack had spread out, the queues and
congestion seemed to be behind me, and again I
started to settle in. The further into the race I got,
the fewer wristbands were around. Competitors
from all different countries would notice I still had
mine and cheer me on, say well done and wish me
on my way. At a particularly tricky inclined wall, the
support from the other UK girls was brilliant – all
willing me to complete it and keep my band – I felt
like we were in it together and I’m not sure I would
have done some obstacles without that support.
I watched my Garmin as the miles clocked up –
could I actually do this? Could I actually finish with
my band? One by one, obstacles that I’d been
worried about were behind me – they weren’t as
difficult as they had seemed in my head. Nine
and a half miles done, and I could hear the event
village music. A simple rope traverse across a lake
was ahead but I could see people were struggling
– getting half way or less and dropping lifelessly
into the water, exhausted. I started across, hanging
down and moving hand over hand – I suddenly felt
so drained, and I had barely made it to the water! I
dropped in – I needed a different approach. I tried
on top, pulling myself across, ignoring the pain of
the thin rope digging into my skin. I’d reach half
way, and then the movement of the rope would
cause me to lose my balance, and drop under, still
hanging on with everything I had left. I hooked my
arms over the rope and tried everything to keep
moving forward, but the distance across the lake
was just too far. I think I tried for 45 minutes before
the course sweeper caught up with me – if he
catches up with you, you lose your band anyway.
He said to me (and he was holding an actual
broom!), “you’ve got one more attempt, then I take
your band”. I tried, but again, sheer exhaustion
meant I made it about half way before lifelessly
dropping into the water like those before me. My
wristband was gone, and I was broken.
The rest of the course is just a blur of half-hearted,
exhausted attempts, and some grumpy tyre flipping.
A Muddy Highlander hug at the finish line managed to
bring a smile to my face, but I was gutted.
However, once again (like the World
Championships) the performances of other
Team UK competitors, as well as competitors
from the different nations, lifted me up. The grit
determination you witnessed if you stood and
watched the final rig; people digging deep, simply
unwilling to give up. Seeing the exuberance as
people finished and crossed the line with their band
was incredible. Soon across the line was Kerrie
Fisher, band in-tact, and one of the only two UK
women to finish with it.
The course had been brutal – some categories had
just one finisher with a band, so just one podium
place filled. Some podiums were empty – no
finishers at all within many categories. However, the
UK had been out in force and we did not disappoint
– winners across categories and second place
female to Freya Martin.
Led by Mark
Leinster, the UK
contingent was
everything you’d
want in a team
– supportive,
inspirational and
just fun to be
around. I think
it’s safe to say,
we’ll all be back.
Overall, this was
an incredible
experience.
The race was
well-organised
with fantastic,
innovative
obstacles – a new
experience for
many of Team
UK as we were
introduced to the
Dutch ‘Survival
Racing’ (lots of
ropes!).
